The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Christopher Musa, has explained that the military follows strict protocols before executing any airstrike across the various theatres of operations.
According to him, the military conducts its airstrikes with precision, adding that civilians are not deliberately targeted.
Musa who was reacting to the recent accidental killing of 16 civilians in Zamfara on Saturday spoke during an interview with newsmen on Monday.
He said: ”The issue of the airstrikes is still the same. Before we conduct any airstrike, we follow up on movements. And I can tell you, when we do airstrikes, we do it with precision.”
Musa stated that secondary explosions in areas where insurgents store weapons and explosives could have affected the citizens.
He said: “Now we cannot rule out a secondary explosion. Why? Because again, within areas they have weapons, they have bombs, ammunition, and explosives that they keep there. So sometimes if it goes up, you cannot rule out the aspect that civilians might be affected.
“But we do not deliberately target the civilian population, we avoid it as much as possible. We have videos that we follow up before any strike is conducted.”
The CDS noted that the accidental killing allegations might be antics to demoralise troops, adding that most of the allegations come when the military is making headway.
